I'm getting tired of the internet. It's gets kinda tiring when you've read an email (surprisingly only one copy) about boycotting gas on May 15, and you just want to do a blog search for the subject line of that email because you're interested in what blogs might say about it so that you can do a blog post little link-fest to a bunch of them and then you click on one of them with a new angle on the thing, read it and leave a comment, and then you click on another one and it ends up being pornographic because even though you set your Google preferences to include SafeSearch by default and for no good reason it doesn't carry over to Google BlogSearch.
So basically, I'm tired of all that coming up. It used to be fun to just peruse around, but because of the chance of that scenario happening, it's not worth it. From now on, I'm pretty much just sticking to all the stuff in my feedreader, email, and friends' sites. Really, that's what most people stick to isn't it? But what about school projects? My school subscribes to these services so I'd go to online databases.
So you know what that means? Any comments that link to something like a Blogger profile that I don't know, get deleted. I'm not even going to check anymore, because of the chance that it will be something gross, it's not worth it.
But don't worry, my bloggings will be in a better mood later... that is if I think it's worth it.
Seriously, right now, I could be getting my writings out in the form of scholarship essay contests, and there's a chance that I'll get well-needed money for school out of that. The chance of this right here helping me? Zero.
Well, the help from this blog comes in the form of catharsis. Also, I can just be like BLAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! randomly. I don't know if that would help in any essay contests.
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
May 11, 2007
Should I Start a New Blog?
Something I'm considering is just starting a new blog. Starting... "afresh." You see, any chance I get, I love changing an adjective into a noun by adding an "a", and also I've become a lot better at blogging. Really, this blog right here was my very first blog, (well sort of) and it went bye-bye when I got into the Halo 2 community scene... after saying something and interacting in a community and getting replies, I pretty much got all I had to say "out", there was no need for a blog, but I still blogged a little about Halo 2 (http://sdtektivh2.blogspot.com)
Maybe it is time for an old blog to be an old blog.
Maybe I should just redo this one?
I don't know if I'm going to stick with the name "SDtektiv." "SDtektiv" is just a name I use online. The idea of it was so that I could be under the protection of being anonymous--I could be more "real" since it isn't my real name. If you're randomly stumbling across this you're probably like, "what's the big deal?"
I've gotten to the point that a good few people know of "SDtektiv", and I have to reluctantly admit that I care a little about the reputation of "SDtektiv". I think that I would benefit from shedding this name and all the stuff I said under this name and starting "a-pristine." (Okay, so you can't add "a" to just any adjective.)
If I ever became a rapper, I'm not sure if I'd want to use the name "SDtektiv." If I did that, then my real self would be associated with it and I'd have to account for all the stuff I've said in my blog from years ago. That stuff comes back to haunt you. I mean, my opinions are going to change, and what I said before I wouldn't neccessarily agree with or the way I said it. Okay, maybe that wouldn't be too bad, but what if I run for President after that? I am not planning on it, but there's always the chance.
If I ran for President, I'd have to account for everything short of how I stole someone's fruit cup in the third grade. I don't remember if I did, and that's the point!
I want to switch to something else. And if I do, then the new blog can't just be a reinvention of this one, because the URL of this blog has "SDtektiv" in it. And you simply cannot change the URL of a blog. You can, but it's a bad choice. There are links to this URL that I have put out there, in emails to friends and in forums... this URL would have some value and so evil spammers would take over the old URL if I ever changed this URL. And since those links are out there, people would think it was my blog.
I've heard that WordPress is really good, but I did try it once before and was confused by it, and I do like Blogger.
Back to the name thing. Something I was considering was using my real name. But soon we'd run into problems. If I used my real name in my blog, I'd still be using my old email address, and I'd still want to comment on the same peoples' blogs and have those comments link to the new blog. If I commented under my real name, the other people wouldn't know that it was me, because in that sense my moniker "SDtektiv" is almost more real than my real name, as all the shared experiences occured under this name.
Also there is the fact that some people might be more open to me if I type under a different name because then it wouldn't be hard for them to see through the opinions they have of SDtektiv, since I wouldn't be typing as SDtektiv.
I think I'm overcomplicating things.
Maybe it is time for an old blog to be an old blog.
Maybe I should just redo this one?
I don't know if I'm going to stick with the name "SDtektiv." "SDtektiv" is just a name I use online. The idea of it was so that I could be under the protection of being anonymous--I could be more "real" since it isn't my real name. If you're randomly stumbling across this you're probably like, "what's the big deal?"
I've gotten to the point that a good few people know of "SDtektiv", and I have to reluctantly admit that I care a little about the reputation of "SDtektiv". I think that I would benefit from shedding this name and all the stuff I said under this name and starting "a-pristine." (Okay, so you can't add "a" to just any adjective.)
If I ever became a rapper, I'm not sure if I'd want to use the name "SDtektiv." If I did that, then my real self would be associated with it and I'd have to account for all the stuff I've said in my blog from years ago. That stuff comes back to haunt you. I mean, my opinions are going to change, and what I said before I wouldn't neccessarily agree with or the way I said it. Okay, maybe that wouldn't be too bad, but what if I run for President after that? I am not planning on it, but there's always the chance.
If I ran for President, I'd have to account for everything short of how I stole someone's fruit cup in the third grade. I don't remember if I did, and that's the point!
I want to switch to something else. And if I do, then the new blog can't just be a reinvention of this one, because the URL of this blog has "SDtektiv" in it. And you simply cannot change the URL of a blog. You can, but it's a bad choice. There are links to this URL that I have put out there, in emails to friends and in forums... this URL would have some value and so evil spammers would take over the old URL if I ever changed this URL. And since those links are out there, people would think it was my blog.
I've heard that WordPress is really good, but I did try it once before and was confused by it, and I do like Blogger.
Back to the name thing. Something I was considering was using my real name. But soon we'd run into problems. If I used my real name in my blog, I'd still be using my old email address, and I'd still want to comment on the same peoples' blogs and have those comments link to the new blog. If I commented under my real name, the other people wouldn't know that it was me, because in that sense my moniker "SDtektiv" is almost more real than my real name, as all the shared experiences occured under this name.
Also there is the fact that some people might be more open to me if I type under a different name because then it wouldn't be hard for them to see through the opinions they have of SDtektiv, since I wouldn't be typing as SDtektiv.
I think I'm overcomplicating things.
April 23, 2007
Politically Correct
I don't want to try to always be politically correct.
What I mean is more important than the words I use. Being sincere is more important than appearing to be sincere.
That being the case, I would never intentionally be politically incorrect just to be politically incorrect. Just as I would never intentionally try to offend someone. I'm just going to try my best not to but if it ends up happening, it probably wasn't on purpose.
The danger is going too far in thought about this. Just like how sometimes I think I should not go to a store at a certain time because I think I won't be able to find a parking spot... but then I think that other people will think that and then no one will be there so I should go... but then I think that people will think that too and it will be crowded... you see where I'm going with this?
I'm just going to blog, talk, and write and be myself.
What I mean is more important than the words I use. Being sincere is more important than appearing to be sincere.
That being the case, I would never intentionally be politically incorrect just to be politically incorrect. Just as I would never intentionally try to offend someone. I'm just going to try my best not to but if it ends up happening, it probably wasn't on purpose.
The danger is going too far in thought about this. Just like how sometimes I think I should not go to a store at a certain time because I think I won't be able to find a parking spot... but then I think that other people will think that and then no one will be there so I should go... but then I think that people will think that too and it will be crowded... you see where I'm going with this?
I'm just going to blog, talk, and write and be myself.
April 18, 2007
How to Attract More Visitors to your Blog
- Leave a comment on every story that you like by other bloggers. It makes everybody feel good and they may click on your name and view your website.
- If a story fits, if the story is sort of journalistic and it is about a specific thing or on modern events, submit it to Digg
- Link to other blogs
- Respond to visitor comments (I don't know if this attracts more readers but actually do this just for fun!)
- Post once a day if you can! And when you feel like blogging a LOT, then just save them as drafts and post them on other days. This very post that I'm posting I originally started on April 3rd, 2007, and today it is the 18th. If you have a few backup posts then you can publish on a regular basis more. I know that I don't do this much myself, I even call it a "monthly blog" in the description because of this!
- Have a link to your blog in the signatures of forums and in your email address.
- Write out the address of your blog on little pieces of paper and hand them out to your friends!
- Blogger has an article about this very subject at this very long URL: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42377&query=attract%20visitors&topic=&type=f
April 11, 2007
Subscribe to your own Blog feed
There is this cool thing where you can get all (most) of the websites that publish articles to have their content delivered to one spot where you can browse all of it from there. It's nifty and, as many blog readers know, it is called a feed reader. I currently use Google Reader, but there are lots of different ones.
For fun, I decided to subscribe to my own blog in my feed reader. Yes, it is silly, akin to someone carrying a camera around and constantly taking pictures of himself. The benefit of this silliness is that I got to see what feed subscribers might be seeing when they subscribe to my blog!
For some reason, in the feed reader, a post that I posted a long time ago entitled "Never Delete Your Blog" came up as the newest blog post. My first thought was that I had accidentally given it a new date or republished it, but on the blog it didn't appear under the new date, (of course the posts appear by the date you give them, which can be different than the day you actually published if you wish.). I believe that I may have edited that post and for sure I at least added a tag/label. This leads me to believe that maybe either feed readers or feeds change when an old story is relabeled.
I hope this isn't the case as I will be taking the advice of a good Blog tips website (with non-distracting ads by the way) and continuing to add updates to old posts and things that say "This is a link to a more current post I recently wrote." The site I'm talking about is Daily Blog Tips dot com.
The point of this post is to advise bloggers to rock the mullet, but more importantly to subscribe to your own blogs' feed if you use a feed reader. This way, if your feed is glitching, at least you'll know about it. For team blog owners, this is an easy way to check if a team member has put a new post on your blog---while you are feed reading. If this problem continues, I will consult the Blogger Help Group and maybe get a different type of feed. Until then, my blog readers who read via feed will occasionally get to enjoy some classics! (if that's what you call them)
For fun, I decided to subscribe to my own blog in my feed reader. Yes, it is silly, akin to someone carrying a camera around and constantly taking pictures of himself. The benefit of this silliness is that I got to see what feed subscribers might be seeing when they subscribe to my blog!
For some reason, in the feed reader, a post that I posted a long time ago entitled "Never Delete Your Blog" came up as the newest blog post. My first thought was that I had accidentally given it a new date or republished it, but on the blog it didn't appear under the new date, (of course the posts appear by the date you give them, which can be different than the day you actually published if you wish.). I believe that I may have edited that post and for sure I at least added a tag/label. This leads me to believe that maybe either feed readers or feeds change when an old story is relabeled.
I hope this isn't the case as I will be taking the advice of a good Blog tips website (with non-distracting ads by the way) and continuing to add updates to old posts and things that say "This is a link to a more current post I recently wrote." The site I'm talking about is Daily Blog Tips dot com.
The point of this post is to advise bloggers to rock the mullet, but more importantly to subscribe to your own blogs' feed if you use a feed reader. This way, if your feed is glitching, at least you'll know about it. For team blog owners, this is an easy way to check if a team member has put a new post on your blog---while you are feed reading. If this problem continues, I will consult the Blogger Help Group and maybe get a different type of feed. Until then, my blog readers who read via feed will occasionally get to enjoy some classics! (if that's what you call them)
January 3, 2007
All those Google Ads
At one time, before I came to Blogger and perhaps before I even knew exactly what a blog was supposed to be, Blogger offered you to have your own domain and just use Blogger as a platform. Of course, you'd have to find a service to give you a domain and you'd have to pay for it, but another option they had was for you to use a "blog*spot" address hosted for free. Wait? Isn't this the way it runs today? Yes, but the difference was that when you had it hosted for free on a blog*spot address, it came with something. Ads.
I found this out when I watched a "Learning Blogger" video discussing the pros and cons of having your own domain verses using a free blog*spot address. Blogger Article: Learning Blogger
Today, somehow, Blogger can give you the platform and the hosting for free, without ads. Today, there is no "premium" version to pay for--all of the services are built-in to one solid, free version of Blogger.
They even allow you access to your code; a service that I saw as something you had to pay for on a different blogging platform.
So, why am I even typing this post? Well, it seems that today, some bloggers are putting in ads on their blog, to make a little money I suppose. My question is, "Why do it?" Blogger is finally ad-free but now you can find that some bloggers choose to pepper their blogs with ads.
At least though, these are mostly calm, text-based "Ads by Google", and not the flashy, sound-and-light-show, "make billy the hamster pounce on three Q-tips and win an iPod", "You've won (must complete seventeen offers)", light-electric disco mania ads.
There is a bright side to this. Because Blogger is owned by Google, Blogger is likely getting some of the profit from the Google ads that some bloggers opt to use. I bet that there are actually more ads on blog*spot addresses now than when they were mandatory. My conclusion is that Google/Blogger won't need to put mandatory banner ads on blog*spot-address blogs because... us bloggers at large have done it for them.
What people do with their blogs is none of my business. Because of all the ad-filled blogs, I might not ever be forced to have ads on my blog. Your ads are probably paying partially for Blogger's servers; in a way, you're taking the ads so I don't have to, and I appreciate that. But as for me? When it comes to visiting one of two sites about the same thing--one has ads, the other doesn't--it's obvious which one I'll be more likely to visit. That's my take on it.
I found this out when I watched a "Learning Blogger" video discussing the pros and cons of having your own domain verses using a free blog*spot address. Blogger Article: Learning Blogger
Today, somehow, Blogger can give you the platform and the hosting for free, without ads. Today, there is no "premium" version to pay for--all of the services are built-in to one solid, free version of Blogger.
They even allow you access to your code; a service that I saw as something you had to pay for on a different blogging platform.
So, why am I even typing this post? Well, it seems that today, some bloggers are putting in ads on their blog, to make a little money I suppose. My question is, "Why do it?" Blogger is finally ad-free but now you can find that some bloggers choose to pepper their blogs with ads.
At least though, these are mostly calm, text-based "Ads by Google", and not the flashy, sound-and-light-show, "make billy the hamster pounce on three Q-tips and win an iPod", "You've won (must complete seventeen offers)", light-electric disco mania ads.
There is a bright side to this. Because Blogger is owned by Google, Blogger is likely getting some of the profit from the Google ads that some bloggers opt to use. I bet that there are actually more ads on blog*spot addresses now than when they were mandatory. My conclusion is that Google/Blogger won't need to put mandatory banner ads on blog*spot-address blogs because... us bloggers at large have done it for them.
What people do with their blogs is none of my business. Because of all the ad-filled blogs, I might not ever be forced to have ads on my blog. Your ads are probably paying partially for Blogger's servers; in a way, you're taking the ads so I don't have to, and I appreciate that. But as for me? When it comes to visiting one of two sites about the same thing--one has ads, the other doesn't--it's obvious which one I'll be more likely to visit. That's my take on it.
December 28, 2006
Blogger is Good
Of course, this is coming from someone who came from trying to blog on Xanga. Not a good blogging tool! Let's look at some highlights of Blogger make it better than other competitors.
- There is no "premium" version of Blogger. This means that the features you usually have to pay to get on other platforms, such as access to one's code, are integrated into the one solid version of Blogger.
- It's free. It is a free service. What makes it better than other free services?
- There are no ads. None. Unless the user puts them in there himself! (don't do that).
- Lots of options.
Things that would make Blogger better:
- Make it easier to have a picture for your header (though you can do this if you follow a tutorial!)
- Be able to format your comments in "Peek-a-boo" format. Meaning if you click on the thing that says "comments" they just come out on the website and if you click it again they go back.
I just thought of something. In the past week I submitted a blog post to Digg, created a Technorati profile, and submitted a blog feed to Pingoat. I how someone in History would react if I said that?
December 27, 2006
Blogging is Established
You know something in the media has been well established when there are things about it in its own format. There's rappers rapping about rapping, podcasters podcasting about podcasting, books about reading, okay you get the point. Now, blogging has gotten to the point that there are blogs about blogging.
Never Delete Your Blog
I didn't know this piece of advice until I was browsing the Google Blogger Help Group (sounds like AA for Bloggers doesn't it?) I'm SDtektiv, and I'm a Blogger. Anyway the point is that someone learned the hard way that you shouldn't delete your blog. Why? Well it turns out that when he or she deleted the blog, the URL became available, and someone turned it into a SPAM blog. The word on the street is that because people visit blogs, they are valuable to spammers, they show up in Search engines which means that they can pick this up and use it to show whatever sort of filth they want to.
This is really bad, I once visited a blog because I saw a link to it from a site that I trusted, and it had porn in it. I felt betrayed, and I didn't understand what happened, but now I do. They deleted the blog and a Spammer claimed the URL.
In conclusion, if you are tempted to delete your blog or change the URL, or relocate, don't do it. You can just put a post up there that says "blog has been moved, link:", or you can delete all the posts you made and make a post like that. Just be sure to disable comments either way. Spammers like to use those too.
This is really bad, I once visited a blog because I saw a link to it from a site that I trusted, and it had porn in it. I felt betrayed, and I didn't understand what happened, but now I do. They deleted the blog and a Spammer claimed the URL.
In conclusion, if you are tempted to delete your blog or change the URL, or relocate, don't do it. You can just put a post up there that says "blog has been moved, link:", or you can delete all the posts you made and make a post like that. Just be sure to disable comments either way. Spammers like to use those too.
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